Why Use Bulk SMS When You Can WhatsApp

With WhatsApp making headlines on being the most used instant messaging app in Malaysia, it is not surprising to see many treating SMS as an afterthought. Like why bother with SMS?

At SMSS360, we believe that every marketing channel has its pro and cons, be it online marketing, traditional marketing or whatnot. Therefore, it is important to understand the potential of each channel and how it can be integrated with each other to maximize marketing effectiveness.

To do SMS some justice, we highlighted 3 main advantages of SMS over WhatsApp:

Feature phones are still in demand especially for Malaysians aged 50 years old and above. And they have no intention of switching to smartphones. Companies focus way too much of their advertising on millennials. But it is not wise to overlook the millennials’ parents because they are the one with the most money. With bulk SMS, you can rest assured that everyone will receive your message because it is mobile friendly.

Based on MCMC research, only 76.9% of Malaysians have access to the internet. 23.1% might be a small percentage for some but it is a total of 7.5 million Malaysians who do not have internet access. Imagine your most profitable customers falling into that category. So why take the risk?

Malaysians use WhatsApp as a social media platform to communicate with their friends and family. Therefore, it is not a good idea to utilize it for marketing activities because the message will not gain any traction. Customers might see the message and then most probably report the message as spam before deleting it. This might lead to your WhatsApp account being banned. As Malaysians value a separation of private and business communication, it will be advisable to use customized bulk SMS for your marketing activities. Since SMS has a 98% open rate that leads to quite many conversions.

If you are looking to use text messaging for your business, bulk SMS has a better potential because of its higher CTR, better outreach, and better delivery rate.